A Christmas Story of Sorts
by rockandrosie
Summary: Nico is trying to deal with his problems but Percy keeps getting in the way.
1. Chapter 1

_nov. 1_

Remember when you were younger and you always thought "When I'm _ years old I'll feel so grown up." Everyone has thought it time and time again, don't even try to deny it. What no one bothers to tell you is, you're always gonna feel like a kid, at least sometimes. You'll never feel 100% like a "mature, responsible adult" the way thought you would. You'll always make stupid decisions. The only difference is there's no one to stop you. Which is the reason that Nico chose to stay up the entire night reading. When he needed to get up at 3:45am for work.

So of course, when his alarm sounded, with that disgustingly hollow sound only an alarm can make, he Nico felt like a zombie. An actual zombie who rose from a grave, just in time for work. He wandered through his apartment without much thought as he got dressed in his uniform, ate a pop tart, and drank a cup of coffee. But when you're this tired, there's only so much coffee can do for you. In one last effort to wake up, he splashed cold water on his face and arms.

Nico didn't feel safe driving, so he walked to work that day. He was the first one there, but as shift supervisor, that was his job. Nico truly believed his manager hated him, on account of the fact that he was always assigned worked 10 hour opening shifts. And since it was November 1st, the most brutal opening shift of the year, it just proved that someone somewhere was out to get him. He unlocked the doors to get in, but closed them right after. November in New York City was a chilly time of year. Nico wad dreading taking off his coat, scarf, and gloves for work that day.

All little bit too long after he had arrived, the two high school girls who were working the shift with him had just come in. "You two are late!" He snapped. Nico truly hated the high schoolers who worked at Inspirations with him. None of them were very responsible. When he had worked here back in high school, he was stellar.

"Sorry..." one of the girls mumbled, staring at her shoes.

"Okay, ladies, listen up," he started, "it's November 1st. You know what that means? Christmas. Basically this is one shift out of the year that you really do not want. Unlucky for us, the seasonal staff is still being trained so we're stuck with the job of making this place scream 'have a jolly day'. All I ask of you is to follow the normal checklist, but restock all the cups with the Christmas ones. Make it snappy."

* * *

The decorating wouldn't have been so miserable if Nico had gotten enough sleep. But, by the time the customers started piling in for their morning fix, Nico was dead on his feet, and when his cousin stopped by, she told him just that.

"Leave me alone." he snapped at her, but she wasn't planning on it.

"C'mon Nico. Be nice to your favorite cousin." She cooed at him.

He glared at her as best as he could. But was too tired to do it with much malice. "Jason is my favorite cousin." He mumbled.

"Ouch. Well fine then, Bianca is my favorite cousin."

"Y'know... I really don't give a shit, Thalia."

"Bianca and I will unite against the evil of of you males, for we are superior."

"Whatever."

"Niiiiiiico." She whined, " talk to me."

"You're holding up the line."

"Funny because there is no line." she fired right back.

"What do you want?"

"I want many things, but as a great man once said 'you can't always get what you want.'"

"Okay, Mic Jagger, what do you need."

"A caramel frappuccino. In the big size. And write a heart on the cup."

Nico pulled out one of the new Christmas cups and scribbled "go to hell" on it before making her drink.

* * *

_nov 2_

"I'm not exactly depressed. I don't think I am, anyways. I just am a bit fed up with the shitty factor."

"Excuse me?"

"The shitty factor, that's what I've been calling it. I just can't stop thinking about the fact that I spent 10 years in school. And I'm not doing anything with all that. I'm still at my high school job, but now it's full time." Before he could finish, he was interrupted

"Nico. You're a shift supervisor soon to be assistant manager. You couldn't have gotten either of those positions without your diploma. High school taught you that hard work pays off. You, personally, know better than most. That knowledge has been applied to every part of your life and is the reason for all your success."

"Yeah." he chuckled to himself, "I'm making more than Bianca."

"Don't ever tell her I said this, but you've always been molto laboriosa while she took the easy way out as much as possible"

Nico smiled, because his god mother knew he took complements seriously when they were in Italian.

"Grazie."

Nico loved talking to Juniper. Her voice always wrapped around him like an electric blanket. Her accent was so welcoming to him.

"I don't want to take up too much of your time, Juniper. I promise to call soon"

"Of course."

* * *

_nov. 3_

"Hi welcome to Inspirations, where you're happiness inspires us. May I take your order?" Nico was really trying to sound happy, but it was nearing his 10th hour of work and he really wanted to just go home. His fingers were restless, they kept twitching the way they always did when he was doing something that he really did not want to do. At this point in his work day, he always felt as if he was suffocating. Breathing got harder, the room started getting very stuffy and to top it all off, he would get light headed.

"Hi. How's it going?" a girl asked. Nico sighed internally. Of course this customer would want to talk at exactly the time when he wanted not to.

"Still breathing." Nico answered, trying to end the conversation.

"That good, huh?" She seemed sympathetic, which is exactly what Nico did not want from random customer number 103.

"I'm fine." Nico nearly snapped, having to control himself, "I've just been here since 4 in the morning. Kind of a long day."

"What?" she seemed appalled at the fact that Nico had been working all day. It was funny how everyone felt that way except him "Are you kidding me? It's past 2! Is that even legal?"

"It's called a 10 hour shift. I would know, I do 4 a week." Nico practically deadpanned.

"Wait a second, 4am to 2pm is more than 10 hours, right?"

At that point, Nico couldn't help himself, he actually laughed. "Excuse me? Have you ever worked a day in your life?" he was still chuckling as he continued, "I get unpaid lunches and breaks."

The redhead actually had the decency to look a bit sheepish. She counted on her fingers quickly and said, "So you get off in a few minutes?"

"Yeah, at 2:30." Nico looked at one of the clocks decorating the walls longingly. He glanced behind the girl. There wasn't a line, which took away some of the guilt he felt from talking to her instead of working. "Did you want something to drink or someone to talk to?" Nico questioned.

"Oh, I've never been here before. What's good?"

"Good is kind of subjective. I'm not a big fan of teas or mochas or whatever, I just take a black coffee.

"Yeah?" She asked. "Can't think of anything?"

Nico glanced one of his coworkers who was a little bit older than him. "Hey, Silena!" he called at her.

"What's up?" she called back at him

"What's your favorite drink?"

"Well I like peanut butter, and chocolate smoothie. Y'know the one with bananas… I don't think it's on the menu… But it's really low calorie."

Nico had to resist rolling his eyes. "Can you make me one of those?"

"Totally." she said, trying to slip her cellphone back in her apron pocket unnoticed.

"Oh, my drink isn't on the menu?" She smirked, "Fancy."

It just then occurred to him that he was being flirted with. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. And it wasn't helping that she was the wrong gender. "Anyways," he rushed out, "I'm not sure where the drink is on the register. I'll have Silena help you." With that, he headed into the back room, trying not to run. He gave Silena a sideways glance and that was all the explanation she needed. She was a love guru like that. He heard her come up with a smooth explanation for his speedy escape.

_nov. 4_

All Nico wanted to do was curl up with his cat and watch an entire season of Hannibal. So that's how he decided to spend his day off. He popped in season one disk one, made some microwave popcorn, and called Cecil over. Right before he pressed play, Nico thought of Thalia. Ever since Hannibal came out a few years ago, Nico had been begging Thalia to watch it with him. She really was the only person he knew who would appreciate it. A dapper psychiatrist eating people was a bit too creepy for most. But ever since Nico had seen Hannibal Rising, as a kid, he'd been obsessed.

Thalia answered the phone before it even started ringing, she had a scary habit of doing that.

_Yo Nico. Sup with you?_

"Come to my house if you want to live" he replied.

_I'll be right there._

* * *

When Thalia let herself into Nico's apartment, she started laughing "Oh my god it's so clean! Aren't guys supposed to be slobs?"

"Shut up, woman."

"I will not be oppressed by a man." She stated. Nico never even knew when she was joking.

"I swear to god, Thals, if you talk during our Hannibal marathon, it will be the last thing you do."

"I smell popcorn."

"It sounds like we have an agreement."

10 hours later, Thalia was very emotional. "That was the best thing ever!" She screamed, not caring about the volume of her voice.

"Pretty much."

"Can I crash here? It's getting late."

"As long as you don't mind sharing the bed."

_nov. 5_

This was basically how Nico's life worked... He hated going to work. It was stressful and he was painfully introverted. Too many people, not enough cool down time. But the thing is, he hated his days off. He got bored. If it was the weekend, he might do something with Thalia, but when he had a free day during the week, it was downright painful. He spent the entire day moping around the house.

It was a bad cycle. When Nico woke up Wednesday morning, he had to force himself to get out of bed, eat breakfast, and do something.

Of course, that didn't meant breakfast wasn't a pop tart and doing something wasn't reading Red Dragon. It only took him several hours to finish the book, and he did not have an obsession with serial killers, he just like the psychological aspects. And Hannibal Lector.

When he was just starting Silence of the Lambs, his phone rang. Loud.

_I must admit. I can't explain. Any of these thoughts racing through my brain..._

Nico jumped and raced to his nightstand. He could have sworn his volume was off.

Jason flashed across the screen along with a not so flattering picture of him.

"Hello?" Nico answered

_Nico! Hey brother!_

"Hi Jason..."

_Thalia's birthday is coming up..._

"Obviously."

_Then you know why I'm calling._

"Nope."

_What should I get her?_

"Seriously? You're asking me?"

_Well who else am I supposed to ask? Aren't you guys bffs?_

"Are you even aloud to be 'bffs' with your cousin?"

_Don't conform to society, if you want Thalia to be your bff, then make it so, dammit!_

"Okay, Jason. Calm down."

_So... birthday?_

"She's really into Doctor Who right now. I don't know, man, get her something with a tardis on it."

_A what now?_

"Blue phone booth. Look it up, t-a-r-d-i-s. You can't miss it."

_Works for me. What are you getting her?_

"Are you joking? I literally pay for her coffee every time I'm on a shift. I'll buy her a toothpick or something..."

_Whatever, man. Later?_

"Sure."

_nov. 8_

It was already almost 8am, but Nico was tired beyond belief. The last thing he wanted to spend his weekend doing was work. It wasn't as if he had plans or anything, but he had been picking up shifts that weekend and he actually got one. An opening shift. Knowing his luck, what else would it be? His lunch break was so close. He thought about hiding out until then, but his conscience wouldn't let him. And of course, at 7:59, someone came in and got in line.

It had just started quieting down too, with everyone getting to work by now, so there wasn't even a line to begin with. Nico waved him over and sighed quietly. "Hi. Welcome to Inspirations, where your happiness inspires us. May I take your order?" Nico was going for cheery when he had said the standard greeting, but cheery was always hard for him.

The guy blinked slowly a few times, with a blank look on his face before speaking. "Hey." he greeted, quietly. "Uh…"

"Coffee?" Nico supplied. Because he looked about as tired as Nico felt.

"Yeah… that." he muttered.

Nico stared at him for a moment before asking, "Do you want room for milk?"

"Whatever is fine." the man answered. Nico sighed. He really hated it when customers did this.

"Look, sir, you either drink your coffee with milk or you don't." he said, trying his best to sound polite, "I can't decide for you."

"What?"

Nico glared at him. Because he was exhausted too, and he wasn't acting like this. "Milk. In your coffee. Do you want it?"

"Yeah, sure." the guy mumbled.

"Okay." he stated. "What size?"

"Um…"

Nico's fingers were twitching, the way they always did when he was upset, "How much coffee do you want?" A glance at one of the clocks told him that it was 8:04, which was irritating to say the least.

"A lot."

"Okay. Large." Nico pressed the same few buttons, on the register, that he had been pressing all morning. "That'll be $2.06."

The man patted his pockets. "I left my wallet in the car." he stated. "Lemme go get it."

At this point, Nico was ready to pull his hair out in frustration. Instead, he tapped his fingers on the counter until he got back.

He came back with a 5. He grabbed the guys change as fast as possible and asked, "What's the name on that order?"

"Mark"

He scribbled that on a cup and handed it to the girl working with him that day. "Okay, Mark, I'll have Katie make that for you right now.'

He was really sick of this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Posting Friday's update early. You're welcome.**

_nov. 10_

All Nico could think was that there was only another 30 minutes of work. The bells above the door chimed, startling him out of his daze. His head snapped up and his eyes focused on the face of the man walking in. "Hi welcome to Inspirations, where your happiness inspires us. May I take your order?"

The man grinned. "Do you actually have to say that every time you greet a customer?"

"It's part of our customer service policy." Nico stated.

"Wow. How many times have you said it today?"

"God, I don't know. A hundred maybe?"

"Cheesy much?"

"Basically."

"Damn. I actually feel sorry for you."

"That's not even the worst of what I have to do."

"Cleaning toilets with a toothbrush?"

"No, not that bad." He replied "What can I get you today?"

"Hot chocolate?"

"Sure. What size?"

"Large.

"That'll be $2.76" After money was exchanged, Nico asked, "Name on that order?"

"Percy."

"Okay, Percy, I'll make that for you right now"

It was until Percy left Inspirations that Nico realized he'd been smiling.

* * *

_nov. 12_

I must admit. I can't explain. Many of these thoughts racing through my brain…

Nico woke up with a start. He had definitely turned down his phone volume but the sound still echoed across his apartment.

"Talk to me…" he muttered.

_Nico! Hi! Oh gosh, we're you asleep?_

The unmistakable sound of his sister's voice woke him right up. "Hazel?"

_Yup_

"Wow, hi Hazel. It's been awhile. How's it going?"

_Could be better. I was calling because Thanksgiving is coming up._

"Indeed it is."

_Soooo…_

"Hazel I don't pick up hints well. Spit it out."

_Aren't you going to invite me over?_

"Well, sis, I'm not doing anything for Thanksgiving. Cooking isn't really my thing."

_But I want to celebrate_

"What do you want me to say?"

_That you're inviting me over for my Thanksgiving break?_

"Hazel, you can come if you want. I can't promise Thanksgiving dinner won't be poptarts though."

_Perfect! Love you bro!_

"Same here."

_nov 14._

Talking to his manager was never fun, but after putting it off for 2 days, Nico forced himself to man up and call her. The conversation was short and not so sweet, as it always was with Annabeth. Nico asked about his sister working a few seasonal shifts, as Hazel always did when she came to town, Annabeth told him off for not asking sooner. He told her he needed a day off, she scolded him for not being available. After the 2 minutes and 47 seconds they were on the phone, Nico was just about to scream. Annabeth was a great person, sure, but sometime she didn't noticed how critical she could be.

_nov. 17_

"Hey Nico" a quiet voice said.

"Hi." he answered, whispering without realizing.

"Coffee?" Percy asked, before yawning behind his hand. And Nico had to admit that he actually looked completely adorable. His scrubs weren't helping, they had cartoon fish on them. Yup, completely adorable.

"Sure. Do you want room for milk?"

"That'd be good." He blinked slowly before smiling.

"Okay. Large?"

"Mmhm."

"$2.06"

"Mkay," he muttered, handing him his card. Nico really loved it when customers had money out before they ordered. Once he'd spent several minutes waiting while a girl was looking for her wallet. All he could think, the entire time, was that Hannibal Lecter would have eaten her for doing that.

When the card was processing, Nico asked, "Tired?"

"Night shift." he answered

"I'm tired too, if that makes you feel any better. I'll make your drink right now."

"Thanks." he mumbled with a smile.

And Nico was just about ready to cry because he had just witnessed the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

_nov 19_

Nico was listening to Secrets. When flight 470 to New York City started letting out. He quickly pulled his headphones out of his ears and shoved them in his pocket. Somehow, Hazel managed to sneak behind and he would never admit to jumping when she whispered boo in his ear.

"Hey bro!"

"Hi, Hazel." he replied, hugging his half-sister. "I got you some shifts at the coffee shop."

"Yes! Amazing! I can't wait to make money… and drinks of course." Hazel's golden mane bounced up and down as she did.

"Calm down, sis. Let's get outta here."

nov 22

The entire time Hazel was working shifts with Nico, she would pick on him constantly. So of course he feared for his life when completely-adorable-when-sleepy-Percy walked in. This time, he was wearing his fish scrubs again, but he definitely looked more awake (but still completely adorable).

When it was his turn at the register, Nico glanced at Hazel. She was making a drink which hopefully meant she would be busy. "Hey Nico." Percy greeted.

Nico's fingers tapped anxiously against the cool metal counter as he glanced at his sister again. "Uh… hi… Percy." he replied, distracted.

"Is somthing wrong?" Percy placed both his hands on the counter, a little too close to Nico's. He snatched his hands away and shoved them in his pockets.

"Nothing. Everything is good. Perfect. Molto buona…."

Before he could think of another way to say good, he was interrupted. "Oooh. Who's this? You look nervous, Nico. Hi. I'm Hazel." Exactly what he didn't want. Nico gave her his best death stare, but she pressed on. "Oooh. Nico. Tell me, who's this."

"Hazel, you're harassing a customer." he spat at her. He made a grab at his sister, but she danced away.

"Whatever," she sang.

He had a thousand different things he wanted to say to her at that moment, but wisely kept his mouth shut. "Hi, welcome to Inspirations, where your happiness inspires us. May I take your order?" with Nico's ADHD he couldn't even remember what he'd been saying to Percy before. Best to start from the beginning, he thought.

"Uh… large hot chocolate again. Who's that girl?"

"She's just some little brat, ignore her, that'll be $2.76."

After money was exchanged, Percy pressed on, "You look like you're about to hurt her…"

"Yeah, she deserves it. Hazel's been bugging me all day." Nico stated dryly as he wrote Percy on a cup and added HC.

That seemed to make Percy a bit nervous, "Don't do anything illegal…"

"I won't. I'll probably just eat the last poptart or something." Nico answered as he handed Hazel the cup.

"Well, that's a big leap from hurting someone to stealing their food." Percy started, obviously trying to make conversation.

Nico let out a short chuckle, "I take it you don't have any siblings."

"Yeah. I don't."

"It looks like Hazel is done with your drink." Nico said, pointing at the pick-up counter.

"Great! Catch you later."

**Hello, my friends. So you should review my story c:**


	3. Chapter 3

nov 23

"What are you doing here? My shift is over." Nico questioned his cousin when she came after 2:30.

"Well, I thought we could spend time together." Thalia was obviously trying to look sweet, but that look never seemed to suit her.

"Why?" That was enough to make him suspicious.

"Well, cos, Thanksgiving is around the corner. Isn't it family time or whatever." Thalia seated herself by a window.

"Yeah, that's why Hazel's here." Nico mumbled, joining her at the table.

"Hazel? Isn't that your little sister or something."

"Yeah. She's at the apartment right now. Why?" He knew why she was asking. But he wanted to think he was wrong.

"Well…" the raven haired girl looked at her painted nails instead of her cousin. Neither of them wanted to bring it up. "Well… God dammit. I'm just gonna say it. What about Bianca?"

"We still aren't talking."

"But.."

"That's it."

"But, Nico..."

"Stai zitto! This conversation is finished."

Thalia sighed, "Right."

It was either completely the wrong time, or exactly the right that Percy, who-looks-completely-adorable-even-when-he isn't-sleepy, walked in. Nico buried his head in his arms, trying to hide. Thalia would be even worse than Hazel. At least Hazel knew how to let things go. But, apparently his messy black curls and uniform gave him away.

"Hey, Nico."

"Hi, Percy."

Thalia smiled. It was starting. Nico wanted to cry. "Ooh, Percy!" She turned to Nico, "why didn't you tell me you had a suitor?"

Nico's eyes went wide and glared at Thalia, he probably had an angry face on, but with his scarf she could only see his eyes. "Thalia..." he warned. But as usual, she never listened.

"Tell me Percy." She started, Nico put his face in his hands, with both frustration and embarrassment. "Would you consider yourself spooky?"

"What?" He didn't even look upset.

"Did you know Nico has an obsession with cannibalistic murder? You should see him when Hannibal is on. And his favorite episodes of Bones are the ones with that cannibal cult, remember those? I think he owns every movie ever made about cannibalism. Even when we were kids too! He loved that Pippi Longstocking book about cannibals."

"Thalia. Get lost." Nico muttered.

"He can probably recite Red Dragon from memory."

"Go away, no one wants you here right now."

"I was just sharing some fun facts about you." Thalia grinned, "I see you two are busy. I'll leave now." Thalia kissed Nico's cheek as if she hasn't just mortified him and headed to the parking lot.

Percy grinned, "Cannibals, huh?"

"Oh god." Nico groaned, "it's interesting. I like the idea behind it. There's always something that drives someone to do it. Like when Hannibal was a kid he saw his sister..."

"It's okay, Nico. No judgement from me. I watch Disney movies in my spare time, don't be expecting me to get all judgemental."

"Are you serious? Disney movies. Like with talking animals and princesses?"

Percy grinned, "Finding Nemo is my favorite."

"Oh god." Nico sighed. "And you're a nurse? Wow, could you get any more manly?"

"Hey, I could bench press you." He defended himself, sitting down in the seat Thalia had vacated. "And I see some hardcore injuries, I work in the ER. We got a woman with 3rd degree burns all over her entire body. You don't even want to know how we dealt with it."

"Okay, I'll give you some credit, that is pretty hardcore."

"Thanks."

"But… a nurse? Not even a doctor?"

"Hey, medical school is pricey."

nov. 24

Someone was trying to break his door down. Nico had been asleep before the assault. He already knew who it was though.

He swung his door open, and glared at Thalia.

"Nico. Why the hell were you asleep it's the middle of the day."

"Because I can sleep whenever I want." he snapped at her.

"So, all day, while I've been at school, you've been sleeping. That's lame."

"Whatever. Why are you here? I was having a great dream before you came."

"Wait a sec. Hold the phone. We're you dreaming about that guy? Please tell me you were." For some reason, Nico's family got ridiculously excited when there was a potential boyfriend in his life, while he was usually indifferent about it.

"No. I was dreaming about food. It was amazing."

"Ugh, nevermind I don't care anymore." She pushed passed him into his apartment. "Wait. Where's Hazel?"

"Inspirations. She's picking up shifts." He called after Thalia as she wandered off.

"Can I have the last pop tart?" He heard from his kitchen."

"No way." He yelled.

nov. 25

"So tell me, why aren't you engaged yet?" Nico wanted to smack his sister. She had obviously been conspiring with Thalia.

Nico threw his rag on the table he was wiping down. "Because," he started, giving her his go to hell look, "I don't even know his last name."

"Wait. Isn't that a country song?"

"Do I look like I know?"

"Touché. Okay, Nico. Why don't you just ask him his last name, then get engaged."

"Because, I don't like being in a relationship. It takes a lot of effort, and I'm fresh out of that. I don't want the commitment. I don't want another person I have to talk to and care about and think about..."

"Sooo... are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

"Stop it!"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hazel bit her lip to hold back a smile. Nico was on his break, but his suitor, as Thalia had put it, was here. He was most certainly not there her last shift. Her smile got too big for her to contain, so she turned her back to remain unseen. It was so cute that he had knew Nico's usual hours. Instead of texting Thalia and fangirling like she wanted to, Hazel pushed the girl at the register away just in time to ring up Percy. "Hi," Hazel smiled at him, "Welcome to Inspirations, where your happiness inspires us. May I take your order?"

As Hazel was still smiling, Percy tried to smile back. "Um. Hot chocolate?"

"Sure thing, mister. Small, medium, or large?"

"Large."

Hazel pushed several more buttons on the register before saying, "$2.76, please. Would you like whipped cream on that?"

Percy actually smiled that time, "You can do that?"

Grinning back, Hazel nodded. It was genuinely cute that this guy was excited about whipped cream. "I can put sprinkles on it, if you want."

"That would be amazing! Is there other stuff you can do to it?"

"Yessir, there is." She pointed to the wall of flavorings and said, "I can add any of those to it. I would recommend the peppermint or vanilla."

"You know what? I don't even care. I'll trust you on this."

"I'm sorry my big brother never bothered to tell you how exciting hot chocolate can be. He's pretty boring, if I do say so myself. He doesn't even like any of these drinks, he literally just gets black coffee." Hazel laughed. She liked this Percy guy.

He laughed with her, "I hate coffee. I only drink it when I need a boost."

She nearly squealed. "That's so cute! You guys are opposites!"

"Uh?"

"Well, he likes bitter and you like sweet! So adorable!"

"I'll take your word for it."

"Totally. Lemme go make your special hot chocolate."

"Cool."

"Wait! What's your last name?"

"Jackson."

"Okay, Percy Jackson. Coming right up."

Hazel went out of her way to make the fanciest, yummiest, bestest drink she possibly could. She even dug out the blue dinosaur sprinkles the used for baking.

Percy Jackson, she was totally going to refer to him by his full name for the rest of forever, was waiting on the other side of the pick up counter already, so she slid the drink across the granite. "Percy Jackson." she said, with a smile. Before he could walk away, she grabbed his hand and whispered, "Nico's break is over in 2 minutes." With a wink, she turned away from her brother's…. suitor.


End file.
